Lizzie McGonagall Dumbledore and the Star Prophesy
by KitLee
Summary: Lizzie always thought she was a perfectly ordinary witch. But when she's thirteen, weird things start happening to her. Visions, potions, creepy passages, and mystery abounds as Lizzie sets out to figure out what's going on. (Complete)
1. Chapter One

Lizzie McGonagall-Dumbledore and the Star Prophesy 

By KitLee

Disclaimer: All recognizable belongs to JK Rowling, not me. I do own Lizzie and her sisters. Don't use them without my permission.

Author's Note: This is my first, finished huge story. It hopefully will have more parts to follow. As always, please r/r!

Prologue 

_"Sun, moon, star_

_The trinity, strongest form_

_Only it can save us now_

_Bold sun of strength_

_Wise moon of cunning_

_Small star, brightest of all_

_Small star, still untried_

_The time will come_

_To live or to die_

_-- First true prediction by Sibyl Trelawney_

Chapter One 

Thirteen-year old Elizabeth McGonagall-Dumbledore was bored to tears. Around her, her fellow third-years were doing their homework as if it were a matter of life and death. Lizzie's unfinished homework was spread out before her, but she couldn't bring herself to do any of it.

"Hey guys," she said, poking her friends, "want to see a trick?"

"Not now Lizzie," Amy said. "I have to get this charms homework done."

"Yeah Lizzie, do your homework like the rest of us," Mike said. "You don't want to lose Gryffindor any more points."

Lizzie yawned. "I'll do it later," she said dismissively. She glanced around the room for a distraction and spotted 

Seamus Finnegan's chess set. "Hey Mike, want to play chess?"

"I can't Lizzie. I have work to do," Mike said impatiently.

"Yeah Lizzie, I don't care if you're trying to flunk out, but can't you go leave us alone?" Alex snapped. "I have a huge essay for Binns due tomorrow."

Tears pricking her eyes, Lizzie fled the common room. It was night, and between that and You-Know-Who's growth in power, the corridors were dark and empty. She shivered. One would think that living while an immensely powerful dark wizard was trying to take over the world would be interesting, but Lizzie knew otherwise. Maybe for adults and older students life was interesting and challenging, but for Lizzie it was just the normal monotony of classes. Unlike her peers, however, Lizzie was not satisfied with it. She longed for adventure and challenges beyond just homework and tests.

The hallways grew darker and lonelier as Lizzie wandered through them, but she was determined not to turn back. What did she have to look forward to in Gryffindor tower? The same meaningless conversation and work.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realize that she'd wandered into an area of school that she hadn't seen before. This part looked older and more unused than the normal part, and Lizzie began to feel panicked. She'd heard stories of students who had gotten lost in the magcial passages of Hogwarts. Some were never heard from again, while others emerged years later. Most students didn't notice it, but magic was so much a part of the castle that it had developed a life of its own. Lizzie noticed; the magic pressed down and squashed her. Here it was worse than normal -- the power radiating here was a hundred times stronger -- and she felt as if she were being squeezed between two giant pillows. She collapsed to the ground, gasping and wheezing for breath, but it was not oxygen that her body craved. Right before her head hit the cold stone floor, she happened to glance out the window and saw a single star smiling down on her.

*****

At thirteen she was almost too old to still live at home. Her father laughed and refused whenever someone suggested that he send his only living child away to be married.

"She is still but a babe," he would insist. "There is time for marriage later."

For her part, she was perfectly happy to be free to wander the hills and valleys near her home. The sun shone brightly, and the grass grew lush and green. Small streams wandered through the land, and she would spend hours lying near them, hearing their babble and staring up at the sky. At night, when the moon cast its glow on the earth, she would lie beneath its healing rays and sleep in peace. Nothing could be more perfect than the peace in which she lived.

However, she also loved stories of adventure and dreamed of having her own adventure. Her favorite was the story of the famous wizard who lived far away, a living legend out of a storybook.

"Tell me again Father," she would beg him, and her father would smile and tell her again and again about how he had vanquished the evil Lord to the darkness from whence he had come. And the girl would sigh and smile with childish delight in the story of good versus evil.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two 

Lizzie awoke the next morning in the hospital wing. Her mother's anxious face peered over her.

"Mom?" Lizzie mumbled. "Where am I?" Instead of lying on the cold stone floor, she felt a warm, soft bed beneath her.

Professor Minerva McGonagall looked sternly at her youngest daughter. "What were you doing last night, wandering the halls? I should take at least fifty points from Gryffindor." Then her voice and visage softened. "I was very worried to find you collapsed in the castle. Your friends searched everywhere last night trying to find you."

Lizzie squirmed beneath the sheets. She could stand her mother's anger but not her worry. "I'm sorry Mom. I was just thinking, and I got lost. By the way, where was I? I couldn't tell last night."

Her mother pursed her lips. "I -- well, I'm not quite sure Lizzie. I wasn't paying attention."

"Mom? Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course Lizzie, what is it?"

"It's just -- I feel bored."

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Bored?" There was amusement in her voice.

"I can't explain it," Lizzie exclaimed frustrated. "But I feel like everything's just always the same around here. Are you sure I can't help the Order?"

"Lizzie, only you would be so bold as to ask me that. Of course you can't! I'm sorry dear, but you're too young. 

You're only thirteen years old --"

"Almost fourteen," Lizzie interrupted.

"Right, almost fourteen. Speaking of that, is there anything you want for your birthday?"

"Just an adventure," Lizzie said.

Her mother laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "You be good for Madam Pomfrey. I have to go now."

Lizzie kissed her mother on the cheek. "Okay, bye Mom."

She hurried to the door; but before she left, Professor Albus Dumbledore caught her arm and pulled her over into the corner, waving his wand to pull up a net of silence around them.

Curious, Lizzie grabbed her own wand and broke through the net with her own spell, taught to her by her older sister Tabby. The spell formed a small hole in the silence net and then funneled the sound back to the caster.

_"Albus, what should I tell her?" Her mother's voice sounded eerily close. Lizzie instinctively glanced around to make sure no one was watching her._

_"What can we tell her? Certainly not the truth. How is she?"_

_"She's fine, acting as if nothing happened. But she wants to know what happened?"_

_"So do I."_

_"But you must have some idea of what was done to her. Where was she Albus?"_

_ Hesitation. "She -- she was in a place of extraordinary magical power Minerva. That's all we know for sure."_

_"But you don't think -- do you?"_

_"There is no proof. However, I cannot think of any other explaination. There is only one place in Hogwarts that has such a strong magical field. I don't know why Lizzie would be so susceptible to it, but it could be a sign."_

_"A sign of what? Lizzie is -- I know that she can be different, but she's just a nice normal little witch like her sisters."_

_"I wish you were right Minerva. But I think it's safe to say that Lizzie is certainly not like her sisters. I'm going to go check on her."_

Hastily, Lizzie canceled her spell and stuck her wand back in her pocket. When her grandfather came over to check on her, she was the picture of the model young witch on the outside. Inside, however, her mind whirled in confusion. How was she different? And why wasn't she like Tabby and Vicky?

*****

The girl couldn't believe her eyes when she first saw the ocean. It stretched on seemingly forever, an endless field of blue that was perfectly flat and sparkled like the stars. Like a girl ten years younger, she tugged on her father's sleeve.

"Look Father! Is it not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?"

He laughed. "Oh Little One, I am sure that you will soon grow weary of the sight of the ocean, so enjoy it now."

She stared at the ocean with wide eyes. "Oh no Father, I could never grow weary of this sight."

He pointed at the horizon. "That is the land where we shall make our new home. No Little One," he said when he saw her squinting into the distance, "you cannot see it yet.

"How will we get there?" she asked.

"Do you see that speck on the horizon?" She nodded. "That is our ship which will take us to our new home." He gazed sadly at his daughter. "There no one can ever hurt us as they did here."

She self-consciously pulled her robes to further conceal the bruises that still adorned her arms and legs. _If I weren't a witch, I probably would not have made it_, she thought shuddering, but then her mind switched gears. It was only because of her magic that the townspeople had decided to go on a witchhunt, she though guiltily. _And now Father and I must move._ She glanced up at her father, but he was only gazing out at the sea peacefully. He did not look as if he was angry about the necessity for them to flee the village in which she had been born and her mother had died.

It took time for the ship to dock and to replenish its supplies, so it was not until several days later that the girl and her father set sail for their new home. The journey took many weeks. In the day, she would sit on the railing of the ship and watch the waves below and the sky above. She listened to the birds singing and the wind whistling. She stared at the western horizon until her eyes crossed and the sun set trying to catch her first glimpse of her new home. England. What a funny name!

At night her father would tell her stories, especially her favorite. Although she begged him for it every night, he only gave in on the fourth day of the journey.

"All right Little One," he finally said, "although you must know the story as well as I do by this point." He sat on the edge of her bed. "Are you sure you want to hear this one? It is very scary, you know." She nodded vigorously. "All right then.

"Until recently, England was a wild and untamed world for wizards and witches to live in. There were dragons, basiliks, and any number of beasts running around untamed. A traveler had to be on his guard constantly or else he would be swallowed up by a passing creature.

However, far worse than the animals were the evil spirits. Once they were men, but evil twisted and deformed them until they were less than men. Their souls had been poisoned by evil until they became Dementors, living only for the suffering of others. They scoured the countryside eager to snatch another person to drink his soul.

"Many years ago, before you were born, a young wizard appeared with more strength in him than any ten wizards. Unfortunately, the only thing greater than his strength was his darkness. The wizard found himself lured by the temptation of power and cruelty over others. He lost his soul and became known as the Lord of Death. He ruled over the Dementors and created his own league of other dark wizards to serve him. A few tried to resist his evil rule and tried to rebel, but all who stood in his path died horrific deaths. Until one.

"Even now, no one knows how he did it. He was just a tiny boy, only a few years old, when he defeated the Dark Lord and made the world a safe place for little ones like you to be born. But there was something in the boy which the Dark Lord could not kill. Instead, the boy's goodness reflected the curses back onto the Dark Lord, killing him forever. People say that he still lives in England today, fighting evil and darkness."

She clapped her hands together in happiness. "So we might see him Father!"

Her father smiled as his beloved daughter. "I suppose we may, although I doubt it. He is a very important wizard, Salazar Slytherin is."


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three 

Lizzie tried to be a good girl after her puzzling illness, never complaining about the monotony of classes and homework. At least she had her dreams to distract her. Every night she had dreams so real and so vivid that while awake she wondered which was real.

She saw the most beautiful place in the world with water as brightly blue as Lizzie's right eye. It was always the same: a beautiful and cheerful girl about her own age running through hills and valleys or sailing on the ocean. The dreams were just so real! She could feel the sun on her skin and the grass beneath her bare feet, or she could smell the tangy salty air and hear the waves crashing and birds calling. Sometimes she could see the young teeenaged girl and her father, and sometimes she was the girl. She saw what she saw, felt what she felt, and heard what she heard.

Every morning Lizzie would awaken from the dream disappointed. She would stare up at the dreary ceiling and wish that her time at Hogwarts was the dream, not reality.

Her fourteenth birthday came in October -- October 31 to be exact. Her grandfather and mother sent her presents, as did her sisters far away in America and someplace unknown, and at tea time she ate birthday cake in her grandfather's rooms. Outwardly she was excited, but on the inside she merely felt despair. She was a whole year older and still nothing was different.

That night, though, her perfect dream shattered . . .

*****

The girl awoke from a deep sleep to hear shouts.

"Shh, you'll wake my daughter!" a voice exclaimed. That was her father. The girl sat up in bed and strained to hear better.

"Ha!" an unfamiliar male voice growled. "Some child! How old is she, old man?"

"She's only eleven," her father said, confusing the girl. Hadn't it been her fourteenth birthday the day before?

"I doubt that," snarled another male voice. There was a thunk, and the girl imagined her father being slammed against the wall.

"You cannot protect her forever," a slick voice hissed. "I am doing a great service to you, letting you and that girl come to England with us. It is time you offered up a proper payment."

"I do not know what you are talking about!" her father exclaimed.

The voice laughed maliciously. "You will soon enough. Care to watch? No?" The girl flinched as she heard the sharp sound of a heavy blow, most likely aimed at her father, followed by a dull thud. Instinctively, the girl felt through her magic that her father was dead.

The door to her room blew open, and standing before her were three young men. Two were large and burly, but the third was smaller and noble-looking with a smooth and flawless appearance.

The smaller man smiled cruelly at her and aimed his wand at her. Straps appeared to pin her to the bed, and a strap also covered her mouth. The girl tried to scream, but couldn't behind the restraints. She still did not know what was going on at this point, so sheltered her father had kept her.

The smaller man pulled off his clothes slowly and approached the bed. He had a predatory gleam in his eyes. He ripped the blankets off the bed, and then . . . 

*****

Lizzie awoke with a scream in Gryffindor tower. She lay panicked beneath her bedding, feeling for certain that she was back on the ship with the girl who was about to be attacked.

Lizzie shuddered and tried to shake off the feeling, although it lingered with her all day. She began to feel even more unsettled as the time wore on, and when night came Lizzie was actually afraid to go to sleep and dream. 

Instead, she wandered to her mother's room.

"Mom," she said, knocking on the door and sticking her head in. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course Lizzie." Her mother put down the book she had been reading and looked at her youngest child. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing . . ." Lizzie hesitated. "It's just -- I've been having these dreams."

Her mother smiled at her and raised an eyebrow. "Nightmares are frightening the great Lizzie McGonagall-Dumbledore?"

"It's more than just a nightmare! It's so real!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"How so?"

"Well, up until last night it was just so beautiful and perfect. Everything was so clear, clearer than real life here. 

But last night, things changed."

Her mother nodded, and Lizzie took that to mean she was taking her seriously. She took a deep breath and went on.

"I mean, I've always followed this one girl, either seeing her or being her, if you know what I mean. But last night, I -- she -- she was – was attacked!"

Minerva's eyes narrowed at her daughter in concern. "And you felt all of this?"

"Well, no. I woke up right before it happened. But it was so real Mom!"

"And so now you are afraid."

Lizzie nodded in shame. She was a Gryffindor. She was supposed to be too brave for these things. "Yes. I'm afraid of what's happened to her."

Her mother sighed and stood up, motioning for Lizzie to follow her. They hurried through the cold, deserted, dark castle to the hospital wing.

"I normally wouldn't even suggest this," Minerva said as she pulled a flask off the shelf and hastily scribbled a note to Madam Pomfrey. "But you seem to be deeply upset. Here," she handed Lizzie the potion. "Drink this every night before bed, about a cup. It should help you sleep better."

Lizzie nodded. "Thank you," she said. She turned the flask over in her hand but couldn't find any sort of label. 

"What does it do?"

"It will help you sleep without dreams," her mother said. "Now, go to bed my littlest. It is far past your bedtime. My other daughters may be far away, but I can still mother you."

Back in her room, Lizzie drank deeply from the flask. Immediately she felt a cloud of drowsiness surround her, and she fell asleep before even changing out of her uniform.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four 

The medicine did drive away the dreams, but it also left Lizzie feeling perpetually sleepy. It grew more and more difficulty to drag herself out of bed in the morning, and in the evening she had to be in bed having taken her medicine by 8:30 or she would slum over wherever she happened to be sitting or standing and fall asleep. The first time she'd done that in the Gryffindor common she had given everyone quite a shock because, as her friend Amy later told her, "You looked dead!"

Her schoolwork suffered because she no longer had any energy to pay attention or study, and worse of all she was seemingly sapped of all magic. She struggled to perform the simplest spells, and Snape seemed to take perverse joy in keeping her after class to try and mix potion ingredients week after week. Even her favorite teachers like Flitwick were frustrated at the bright girl's sudden failures, and Lizzie could physically no longer attend Astronomy, her favorite class. Only her mother excused her from work, and that brought on even more teasing than ever.

"This isn't a healthy way to live," Lizzie thought wearily one Saturday morning when she awoke feeling more drained than when she'd gone to sleep 15 hours earlier. Looking in the mirror, she noted that her usually brilliant eyes (one blue, the other green) sported dark circles around them and even her hair had lost its dark glossy look. Squinting at the mirror, she noted the appearance of several gray hairs. "I know that I'm far too young for that. What's going on?"

That certainly was a good question. She found that she could no longer depend upon her mother or grandfather for the answers. She knew as well as she knew her own name that this wasn't right, that something was going on that they weren't telling her. Of her beloved sisters, Tabby was a grown woman and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, far too busy to be bothered with the problems of a fourteen-year-old girl. And Vicky was living her own life in America, not that she would be able to help her. Although Lizzie had endless faith in her sisters' abilities, Vicky had spent recent years ignoring Hogwarts and trying to become as American as possible.

_Besides_, Lizzie thought, _I'm a grown girl. I should be able to solve this myself. _And so that was why, one night in December, Lizzie didn't take her medicine. Instead, she snuck out into the passageways and tried to find her way back to that section of Hogwarts where all this had began.

The night was colder than ever, and Lizzie felt her entire body going numb. Her mind and body were unbelievably weary, but she used her iron will to keep shuffling forward. "That Lizzie," people had said when she was younger, "Tabby's the beauty, and Vicky's the brain, but Lizzie -- she's the guts."

For hours Lizzie wandered, until suddenly she realized that the air was getting heavier. The halls seemed to get narrower, crushing her. "Yes!" she croaked. She'd made it!

But what to do now? Last time she had fainted and had to be rescued; she didn't want to have to depend on that again. She looked around desperately, trying to find some sort of clue as to what this place was, but she could barely see anything in the darkness. "Lumos," she whispered, and her wand began to glow weakly. It was the first magic Lizzie had performed in days, and the sight of her glowing wand filled her with warmth and hope.

Slowly, she began to crawl forward to examine where she was exactly. The wing was dark and looked long-overused. No light from the full moon shone through the stained-glass windows, and upon closer investigation Lizzie realized that these only looked onto brick walls.

Her breath came raggedly, and her heart pounded, but Lizzie would not give up. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she knew that she couldn't leave yet. Just before she felt herself crumpling to the ground, she spotted a flash of light reflected from a spot in the wall. Literally crawling on the ground, Lizzie made her way to it, digging from between the mortar of the bricks until she reached a small crystal phial. She clasped in protectively and, drawing strength from deep inside her, she rose shakily to her feet and stumbled out of the mysterious corridor. She barely made it back to Gryffindor tower before collapsing into her bed, still clutching the phial.

*****

The girl stood on the edge of her new homeland, breathing in the salty air that mixed with fresher air from inland. Since her father's death that horrible night, she had grown up. Her untrained magic had protected her from the attackers. They could not stand to touch her skin, and if they came too close, she would often throw them away. 

So for the duration of the journey, everyone on the ship was afraid of her, avoiding her whenever possible. It was just as it had been back at home, when the villagers she had known since birth had suddenly discovered her to be a witch of enormous power.

But now that the journey was over, the journey which her father had paid for with all of his money and his life, she was all alone in a strange country. She had only a few clothes and almost no money or food. She shivered in the cold breeze. Pulling her gray robes around her small body, she gathered her things and proceded to make her way to the village. She was on her own now.

*****

When Lizzie awoke the next morning, she felt relieved that the old dream had returned. She felt better than she had in weeks. Eagerly, she bounded out of bed inadvertently dropping the phial. It fell to the ground with a loud clink and rolled under her bed. Right as it fell, it was almost as if a hook had grabbed onto her heart and pulled sharply. She gasped in shock and confusion, clutching her chest. Then she noticed the phial and grabbed it for further examination.

At first glance it was ordinary. Made of perfect clear glass or crystal, it was shaped like a teardrop. Inside, Lizzie squinted to get a better look, was a dark red orb, probably a garnet. Then she looked again and gasped. When she moved it, the red orb moved ever so slightly. It wasn't a solid gem; it was blood. Lizzie shuddered inwardly but continued to stare in fascination. She felt drawn to it somehow.

"Morning Lizzie," her friend Amy said sleepily as she woke up. "You okay?"

Lizzie quickly hit the phial in her hand and nodded. "I feel great." She yawned and stuck the phial in her pocket. 

"Let's go get some breakfast."

This time Lizzie did not tell her mother or anyone else when her dreams returned. She realized that her mother and grandfather had been keeping things from her, and she was determined to figure out this mystery on her own. She magicked a small chain so that she could wear the phial around her neck always; she just felt better when it was near.

Winter fell onto Hogwarts quickly covering the castle and grounds with blankets of snow. Lizzie found herself spending hours by herself, sitting in the snow and contemplating all of the changes that had happened. _My friends used to be so important to me_, she thought, _and now I've lost them. I don't know how it happened; it just did. _Slowly they had begun to stop waiting for her to get out of her constantly distracted state and care passionately once more about House Points and Quidditch. Her life had taken on a new deeper meaning than just schoolwork and the House Cup. She was determined to figure the mystery that had befallen her and to prove herself worthy of joining the Order of the Phoenix in stopping You-Know-Who.

*****

After wandering the English countryside for months, the young woman, a girl no longer, learned of the Dark Lord. Most spoke of him warily as only a "dark cloud" gathering power in the north. Only a few were brave enough to speak his name, Lord Mortis. When she heard his name, it felt as if the story that her father would tell her on long nights had come to life.

"But I heard that Salazar Slytherin defeated him years ago," she protested to the first villager who had told her his name.

The old man shook his head. "The Lord is not human enough to die. All Slytherin did was postpone his rise to power. I only hope the wizard can do it again before He has gathered enough strength to resist death permanently."

And so the young woman traveled cautiously from town to town trading magic and medicine for food and temporary shelter. Sometimes she would remain in a place for weeks; sometimes she would leave after less than a day. She had yet to find a place that she could call home.

And then, on an ordinary day in December, she was walking along the road to another small village when she heard voices off the path. Curious, she left the spelled protection of the path until she reached a small grove of trees. 

When she reached them and peered through the dense branches, she gasped! She had stumbled upon the Dark Lord.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five 

When Christmas came, Lizzie McGonagall-Dumbledore bid farewell to her peers and settled into a lonesome Christmas at Hogwarts. The only other Gryffindors there were seventh-years Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger -- not the kind of students she could play and talk with. They were already living legends, especially Potter. They spent most of their time running errands for and assisting the Order, so Lizzie had the Gryffindor Common Room to herself. She enjoyed the privacy and time and took the opportunity to read and 

carefully probe the phial with spells. She still hadn't been able to determine whose blood it was and what it was for.

Lizzie also took to long walks by herself in the castle. She had learned how to move unseen and undetected by Filch and his cat, so she didn't have to worry about being caught. However she always stayed in the tower at night like a good little girl. She was too afraid to do otherwise.

For the entire break Lizzie found sleep increasingly difficult to achieve. She felt a constant restlessness. Finally, on Christmas Eve, Lizzie submitted to her instincts and crept out of Gryffindor tower. Instinctively she wrapped her favorite yellow-orange robes around her nightgown and stuck her wand in her pocket before leaving.

The passages were cold that night. She didn't dare light her wand and attract attention, relying on her night vision instead. She moved softly and quickly. An unknown and unseen force directed her through the castle and outside. 

Once outside, however, her inner drive abandoned her, and Lizzie looked around in surprise trying to discern where to go next. The night was perfectly clear. Her feet crunched through new snow, and above the sky hung like an ink-black tapestry with the tiniest perfect specks of light. Every muscle was tense and eager, but for what Lizzie wasn't able to tell.

The phial suddenly began to glow strongly and rose slowly in the air, pointing towards the Forbidden Forest. 

Obediently Lizzie followed.

The forest was devoid of all life that night. Not a single bird or bug moved or spoke to break the eerie silence. Fear gripped Lizzie but she forced herself to push on. Finally, after hours of walking, the trees around her began to thin as she reached a small grove of trees. Inside she could only see a few hazy figures surrounded by smoke. Silently she crept to the edge and peered through the thick trees that surrounded the clearing. She stared in shock at the scene before her and let out a high scream of terror. She sprang up and ran as fast as she could back towards Hogwarts and her mother. Like a child frightened by a nightmare she longed to run to her mother's side and let her chase all the demons away. But this demon was real.

He reached out with his magic and froze her in her tracks, pulling her towards him as she desperately tried to fight the spell. Lazily he yanked her into the magically-charged ring and threw her to the ground. Lizzie lay crumpled on the ground, too frightened to fight or do anything other than hide. Finally, she screwed up enough courage to peek up at the figures again.

The first person she saw was none other than The Harry Potter. He was wearing jeans and a sweater and had his wand drawn and pointed at the other person; however, his attention was focused on her with a mixture of worry and annoyance for the small girl who had stuck her nose where it didn't belong. The other figure, the one who made her scream, was Lord Voldemort.

He sneered at her contemptuously through his slit-eyes. The man still looked impossibly thin and creepy. Voluminous black robes covered most of his body, and like Harry Potter he held a wand, but his was pointed at her.

"Ahh, another little student trying to play brave," he hissed maliciously. "Another stupid Gryffindor. And none other than a McGonagall-Dumbledore. You are a rare breed indeed. And I have the most powerful right here in my grasp." 

He stepped towards her. "You could have great things if you join with me. Think of it, no more being overshadowed by your sisters. I know how much you hate it -- the professors asking if you are as smart as they are, the students expecting your constant success and hating you for it, your own mother striving to turn you into another clone of your sisters. I could change all that."

Lizzie trembled beneath his gaze, and his voice turned from being sneering to being contemptuous.

"Or perhaps not. Perhaps everyone was wrong. You are not the best daughter. You are the worst. You are not even a good stupid Gryffindor." His eyes turned to stone. "Crucio!" he shouted.

Pain filled her body. It felt as if fire had been poured into her veins. She collapsed against the ground again and began to convulse. "Harry," Lizzie begged, tearing pricking her eyes. "Please, do something." Finally she could contain it no longer, and she began to sob and scream in earnest.

Harry brandished his wand at Voldemort, but before he could even speak a spell, Voldemort casually disarmed Harry and threw a curse at him. Lizzie watched through the deep red pain that obscured her vision as he crumpled to the ground, and her last hope seemed to die with him. She clasped her hand around the vial around her neck and squeezed it tight.

Instantly, Voldemort was thrown back as if shocked, and the spell on her shattered. Lizzie managed to climb up to her feet and grabbed her wand as almost an afterthought. A thin stream of blood trickled from where she had bit through her lip, and she wiped the blood on the sleeve of her robe. Voldemort now stared at her with a mixture of anger, fury, and fear, which greatly surprised Lizzie.

When she would later try to recall the events that followed she could never quite remember what happened next. She felt a sense of her body rising; her arms began to rise as did her braided brown hair. Bright gold light shot out of her fingers and hit Voldemort. Someone screamed, but whether it was him or her she did not know. Power poured out of her fingers like light and covered Voldemort completely. Then, only a few minutes later, the light was gone, and Elizabeth McGonagall-Dumbledore collapsed to the ground, all energy sapped from her body. She had done what no other wizard could. She had destroyed Lord Voldemort.

*****

The young woman staggered out of the clearing covered in Lord Mortis' blood. Wearily, she collapsed at the feet of two young men at the edge of the forest. They carried her to a soft grassy area and lay her down gently. Once she regained consciouness, they asked her story. When it was finished, they regarded her with serious eyes.

"That is an amazing feat of magic you performed, my lady," the taller, red-haired young man said.

The shorter, black-hair young man nodded. He gently took her hand and smiled at her. To his surprise, she began to cry.

"Shh, please do not cry," he murmered gently. "Everything is fine. You do not need to worry. We will care for you forever." His green eyes met her pale blue ones, and at that moment Helga Hufflepuff knew to the bottom of her soul to trust what Salazar Slytherin said.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six 

Lizzie awoke slowly the following day to find herself safely tucked in the hospital wing. She bolted up in bed. 

"You-Know-Who is --!"

"Shh," her mother soothed gently. "Lie back down Lizzie. Everything is fine." She gave her youngest chid the smile of relief. "We all were quite worried when Mr. Potter came in with you early this morning. Now you seem to be fine."

"So Harry's not . . . he's okay?"

"Sure he's fine. You're the one who was almost a goner," a new voice spoke up. Lizzie turned to see two cheerful faces smiling down at her.

"Vicky! Tabby! What are you doing here?" Lizzie asked excitedly.

Tabby ruffled her baby sister's hair. "Looking after you of course. You gave us quite a scare."

Vicky grinned at her sister, eyes shinning. "Lizzie! You saved the world!"

"I did?" Lizzie asked hesitantly. The previous night's events were still so confused in her mind.

"You defeated You-Know-Who," Tabby said.

"But the most important thing is that you're all right now," her mother insisted, giving her baby another hug and kiss.

"She's not well yet. To get well, she'll need plenty of rest, so shoo," Madam Pomfrey directed, gently shooing Professor McGonagall and her daughters Tabby and Vicky. 

"I'm not going to just leave her here," her mother protested.

"Yes you are Mom," Tabby said calmly. She grabbed her arm. "Come on. Why don't we go have some tea or something?" She and Vicky led their mother away.

Smiling Lizzie lay back onto the bed. She hadn't realized until that moment just how much she missed her mother and sisters. She closed her eyes to fall back asleep, but she only had a few minutes before she had another visitor.

"Um, can I talk to you?" Lizzie looked up to see Harry Potter standing by her bed. Like her he wore pajamas and had a bandage wrapped around his head. Unruly tufts of black hair stuck up around the bandage.

"Sure," Lizzie said. She motioned for him to sit down, which he did awkwardly.

"It's just, um, I feel weird," Harry finally admitted. "I mean, you saved my life last night, and you defeated Voldemort."

Lizzie nodded. "It's okay Harry," she assured him. "You don't owe me or something."

"But I do," Harry insisted with surprising vehemence. "I should have taken care of you. You -- you begged me to save you, and I failed." He looked down ashamed. "I couldn't take care of you." He looked at her again. "I don't know why it's bothering me so much. It's just, I feel as if there's some sort of connection between us. Like I've known you forever, and I should have protected you, but I couldn't, and I . . . "

Lizzie motioned for him to stop. "I know," she said simply. That's all that needed to be said. They looked at each other, and it was like two old souls meeting.

"It won't be happily ever after," she warned him at last.

"Life never is," Harry said. He took her small hand in his own and squeezed it. "It'll be fine."

Albus Dumbledore entered just then, breaking their private mood. "Hello Lizzie. I hear you're feeling better. Ah, Harry! Excellent. I was looking for you. It seems that the Ministry of Magic is in another crisis. Cornelius Fudge has resigned as Minister, complaining about the hard work. Now they want me to take the job. Oh dear!"

"What did you say Grandpa? Are you leaving Hogwarts?" Lizzie asked.

"What? Leave Hogwarts? Of course not. No," Albus Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I suggested instead another fine candidate for the job who will be graduating soon."

And tangled in the blankets on Lizzie's hospital wing bed, Lizzie tightened her grip on Harry's hand and made a silent promise to never let go.


End file.
